Defense Dept. finally stepping in because of soldiers’ sloppy mobile device habits

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The U.S. Defense Dept., meanwhile, has finally gotten around to formally acting based on that same assumption — that such devices, even if they’re not broken into or misused, can easily give away sensitive information. Like the whereabouts and activity of soldiers in a combat zone who might be using a GPS-enabled tracker to monitor their workouts and the like.

According to a memo from the Pentagon obtained by the Associated Press, the military is now forbidding troops and other workers in sensitive areas, like a warzone, from using devices and applications that can give away sensitive information like the user’s location. Indeed, the Pentagon memo describes a “significant risk” as a result of the “rapidly evolving market of devices, applications and services with geolocation capabilities.” Those capabilities, the memo continues, can expose personal information, routines and numbers of military personnel, among other things, and “created unintended security consequences.”

Worth noting: the devices like fitness trackers and smart watches aren’t banned themselves. The order is focused on whether the GPS capabilities are in use or not.

Per Forbes, “The move follows the discovery earlier this year by Nathan Ruser, a student studying international security at the Australian National University, that the fitness app Strava was revealing sensitive information through its publicly-available activity map.

“For nearly two years, the app was displaying the movements of users in locations such as US bases in Afghanistan and Syria, a French military base in Niger and even Area 51.”- READ MORE

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European leaders are reportedly nervous that President Donald Trump will make good on his campaign promise to withdraw American troops from the continent if host countries fail to pay their fair share for defense.

Trump has long complained that the U.S. bears too large a financial burden, but has yet to act. While the issue is not expected to come up at the Brussels meeting of NATO next week, uncertainty abounds.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told McClatchy that European leaders are “scared to death” and are “increasingly worried [Trump] is going to do things not based on what’s in the best interest … but based solely on his vision of ‘America First.’”

Last month, a G-7 meeting in Canada turned sour when Trump disparaged allies and refused to sign a joint statement. Trump’s upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, has exacerbated concerns as well. – READ MORE

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